Leading researchers today released a report finding that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions rose by more than 3.4% in 2018, the first annual increase since 2006 and the largest rise in 20 years. This news comes both as President Trump continues to rollback greenhouse gas reduction policies for power plants, vehicles and other sectors—and as domestic climate change-related impacts, from hurricanes, floods, fires and sea-level rise, cost US consumers and taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
The data clearly show that additional measures will be needed to cut long-term US greenhouse gas emissions, above and beyond overturning Trump’s rollbacks of auto fuel efficiency rules and regulations on power plants emissions. These additional policies must include some combination of a zero-carbon energy standard for the electricity sector, renewed incentives to electrify the US vehicle sector, funding for clean energy technology breakthroughs, and the reduction of super greenhouse pollutants like methane and HFCs. In time, they will also require a carbon tax.
House Democrats are entirely aware of this imperative. Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone has indicated that he will take up a series of measures aimed at cutting US emissions, likely to include most importantly a zero-carbon energy standard that will require greater amounts of clean energy in the economy. Such a standard should include all types of zero-carbon electricity production, including not only wind, solar and hydro-power, but also nuclear generation and coal and natural gas with carbon capture.
House Democrats should also consider a series of tax and other measures aimed at dramatically speeding up the transition to electric vehicles by providing more robust and reliable consumer and industry incentives.
In addition, Democrats must advance a clean energy infrastructure plan that provides the charging stations necessary to support tens of millions of clean electric vehicles that will be appearing on American roads, and many other features aimed at using advanced technology to cut emissions, and increase energy efficiency in every sector. And the House Appropriations Committee must at least double funding for clean energy technology breakthroughs like large scale electricity storage that could be game changers, allowing the U.S. to deeply cut its domestic emissions while creating new jobs and lucrative export markets for American industry.
The good news is that Americans have already shown that we can cut emissions while still growing the economy.
Under President Obama, the American economy effectively decoupled economic growth from emissions growth, producing 23% fewer energy-related CO2 emissions per unit of GDP in 2015 than it did 10 years earlier. This allowed the US to be exactly on pace to reduce emissions 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, as promised by President Obama under the 2009 Copenhagen Accord.
But the new data show that the measures that helped bring about this progress and which Trump is trying to overturn, while still essential, are no longer enough to drive the further emissions reductions needed to protect the climate.
However, this does not mean Democrats will fall into the trap of accepting many of the absurdly draconian, unnecessary and often counter-productive proposals of the Green New Deal, like the proposal to eliminate all fossil fuels by 2030. They won’t. Such suggestions are not only complete non-starters as actual legislation, they are dangerous because they provide political fodder for Republican climate deniers who will attempt to scare the public and prevent progress.
Such measures will never become law. But Democrats don’t need them—instead, they will be pursing effective policy measures that will benefit the economy and the climate, together.
When the US again regains its credibility in cutting domestic emissions, it will be in position to pressure other nations, like China, to cut their emissions as well. This is precisely what Obama did in his second term. But such domestic and global leadership is essential as new global emissions also grew in 2018, reaching a record high. These pressing climate and energy issues should finally be recognized by the public and political journalists alike as key elements in the 2020 Presidential contest, and be major topics in both the primary and general election Presidential debates.
The spike in U.S. emissions and Trump's rollbacks should be a wake-up call that cutting long-term American and global emissions will take concentrated and serious policies.
Fortunately, for the safety of the country, Democrats are about to pursue them. And not a moment too soon.
